The premier program of the Atlantic Sun Conference once again hails from the Mountain time zone.
Using the sustained offense of Ryan Stines and a string of momentum-building defensive stops, Utah secured its second consecutive ASUN tournament championship with a 19-16 win over Jacksonville on Sunday at the Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium.
“As the westernmost (Division I lacrosse) program, we’re passionate about growing the game,” said Stines, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player following the victory. “It means so much to the fans and the people surrounding us in our community. This is huge for us and we’re just trying to take the next step forward.”
The Utes have secured at least a portion of the ASUN regular-season title in the past three seasons and won the conference tournament in back-to-back years. They’ve lost two conference games in that span and posted close losses to Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Denver and other teams from power conferences.
The next step is proving they belong in the NCAA tournament with a better performance than the 20-7 loss to Notre Dame last season and that’s something Utah is ready for, according to coach Andrew McMinn.
“We had a little bit of disappointment last year with the way we performed at the NCAA tournament,” the coach said. “These guys are champing at the bit to make some noise and perform better than we did last year.”
The Utes’ surge in the ASUN title game started with a pair of goals from Stines which were matched by two goals from Jacksonville’s Jackson Intrieri to make it 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Utah retook the lead on MJ McMahon’s sling from a tight angle on the right side, then Will Overly followed up less than a minute later with a leaping, turnround shot after circling the cage.
JU cut it to 4-3 on a submarine-style strike from Ethan LaMond, whose stick grazed the turf on the goal, but Stines and Colby Plotts scored less than 10 seconds apart to push the Utes’ advantage back to 6-3. The Dolphins answered for those two goals to make it a one-point game, but Jared Andreala’s extra-man marker started a 9-3 run for Utah that spanned most of the second and third quarters.
The rally included a tic-tac-toe tally where Mikey Crane — back playing in his home state of Colorado for the first time this season — picked off a pass in the midfield. He was able sling a laser to Jordan Hyde on the right side of the cage, who quickly redirected the ball to a wide-open Stines in front of the crease.
Stines also kicked off the scoring in the second half, taking a near-turnover that bounced off two sticks and turning it into a beautiful finish from distance. In the 60 seconds following the goal, Cody Hart and Tyler Bradbury added markers of their own to make it 12-6. The Utes eventually stretched their lead to seven goals early in the fourth.
A 5-0 run from Jacksonville across six minutes of the final period made the score line more respectable, but the Dolphins never cut the deficit closer than two goals in the second half.
Stines’ five goals pushed him to a school-record 63 points this season. He’s now second all-time for the Utes with 47 goals and needs three more to break the record.
Andreala and Bradbury — the latter of whom earned all-tournament honors — each added three goals, helping Utah to its sixth consecutive game with 15 goals or more.
But while the offensive output was impressive, Stines was quick to redirect the credit to the defensive end.
“It’s really kudos to our defense and the guys pushing it in transition,” Stines said. “We play a fast brand of lacrosse and it’s the hard work between the lines that sets up our offensive players to take advantage.”
The energy on the sideline also reflects the defensive effort. Turnovers, ground balls and big saves draw louder cheers than the offensive highlights, and it feeds all units on Utah’s roster.
Goalkeeper Colin Lenskold also earned all-tournament recognition after finishing with 16 saves, many of which rattled his helmet or rebounded firmly off his shins. The sophomore said faith in the defense has driven the team forward all season.
“We know that we can be the best defense in this country,” Lenskold said. “We gave up some runs in the game, but we were able to bear down in the last couple minutes and enforce our will on them. We knew they were going to get tired playing three games at this altitude and we locked them down for the win.”
Utah will learn their first-round opponent during the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship Selection Show on ESPNU at 9:30 p.m. EDT with coverage of the event available from USA Lacrosse Magazine.
